The President's Shadow by Brad Meltzer Also by this author: The Fifth Assassin
Published by Grand Central Publishing on June 16, 2015
Genres/Lists: Fiction, Political
Pages: 416
Read synopsis on Goodreads
Buy the book: Amazon/Audible (this post includes affiliate links)
The giveaway for this post has ended and was sponsored by Grand Central Publishing, however the review is my own. Sample book provided by Grand Central Publishing.
For years, I have a been a big Brad Meltzer fan. His upcoming novel, The President’s Shadow, is his tenth and I have read every single one. I usually read them in a weekend but this one I read from cover-to-cover in one day and it was absolutely worth shirking my responsibilities for the day (I was supposed to be writing a paper but some things are just more important). The latest is the third book in the Beecher White series but can also be read as a standalone.
To summarize, The President’s Shadow is about a bookish archivist who also happens to be part of the exclusive Culper Ring, a 200-year old secret organization created by George Washington to protect the presidency. When a severed arm is found on White House grounds, the president (who Beecher has a fairly complicated relationship with) asks Beecher to quietly dig around to find out who left it. Unofficially, of course. After all, getting onto the grounds usually involves an inside job. They have their suspicions, but for Beecher the search has more to do with what was found in the severed arm’s hand than it does anything else, for the clue may lead to the discovery of how his father actually died decades before. Part political thriller and part family drama (family secrets are the best), The President’s Shadow is the perfect weekend read.
One of my favorite things about Brad Meltzer’s writing style is the short chapters, which truly adds some authenticity to the word page-turner, but what I really love is that he gets his readers. You know how Disney movies have little adult jokes in them that kids miss but parents appreciate? It reminds me of that, only in this case Brad drops little nuggets of bookish and nerdy humor that fosters a connection between author and reader without even trying. Of course, I’ve met Brad and follow him on social media, so maybe I only think this because I do know a bit about him, but I’ll let you read the book and tell me if you feel the same way. On that note, Brad is also a big fan of superheroes (seriously, check out his line of children’s books), so a political thriller about secrets told through the life of an archivist moonlighting as a secret ring leader is appropriate.
So to sum it up, Brad has (once again) written a page-turning political thriller complete with secret societies, family secrets, and a good bit of action. His knowledge of historical secrets will have you wondering whether he made something up or if it is, indeed, an actual conspiracy theory in real world (keep Google handy), but either way it will leave you eager for more. Bravo, Brad. Bravo.
About the Author:
Brad Meltzer is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Inner Circle, The Book of Fate, and six other bestselling thrillers. His nonfiction books, Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter, were also New York Times bestsellers. He is the host of the History Channel series Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and the Eisner Award-winning writer of Justice League of America. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School, he currently lives in Florida. You can find much more about him at www.BradMeltzer.com. You can also see what he’s doing right now at Facebookand Twitter.
